Interview with a Layperson

This is an interview that I conducted with a good friend of mine named Scott Easum. He is a Software Engineering Major and Sophomore here at UTD. I conducted this interview in his apartment living room on March 24, 2011.

(Photo used courtesy of Scott Easum)

GM: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Scott.

SE: No problem, dude.

GM: Without further ado, let's get into this thing...

GM: Essentially, if I were to ask you what Vitiligo was, would you have any idea what I was talking about?

SE: Only because I know you. So no.

GM: Okay, so then you know that it's the spots on my skin right?

SE: Correct.

GM: What if I told you it was an auto-immune disease, where the pigment pretty much attacks itself, have you ever heard of anything like that before?

SE: Like AIDS?

GM:Yeah, like AIDS in the way that  your body is unknowingly hurting itself and there is no known cure, but nowhere near as severe. You can't die from Vitiligo.

SE: Is it transmittable?

GM: No, I don't thinks so. I'm pretty sure it's only hereditary.

SE: So wait then do your parents have it?

GM: No. I'm almost positive I'm like the only person in my family that has the disease. (laughs) Who's interviewing who here?

SE: (laughs) Sorry.

GM: No, it's alright.

GM: Have you ever seen anyone else besides me with this disease?

SE: Not where I knew it was a disease. I knew that they had spots on their skin.

GM: Okay. Well, then before you met me, did you know about this disease at all?

SE: Only for albinos.

GM: So you'd never heard of it through someone like Michael Jackson?

SE: I didn't know he had a disease, I thought he just did plastic surgery.

GM: Well the running thing is apparently he dyed himself white because he had Vitiligo.

GM: Well anyway, I'll cap this off with one more question and I'll let you go.

SE: Okay.

GM: Do you have any strange diseases or things that people don't normally have?

SE: I used to be allergic to like everything, including yeast. I couldn't eat at least 50 different foods.

GM: Really?

SE: Yeah. I also used to have chronic bronchitis.

GM: Okay, well that's all the questions I have for you, so thanks again for your time. And unless you've got any questions for me I figure we'll wrap things up.